Have you ever been part of a team on board a yacht during a race? I had my first experience on Wednesday. What a lesson in communication! I watched in fascination as the sail was winched in by millimetres to satisfy the captain and every small adjustment meant just a little extra speed; every little shift in weight was a make or break situation.
With a company descriptor of ‘communication solutions’, I often find myself thinking about how we can better interact but I’ve never experienced a situation with such tension and split second decision making that work hand in hand to create such an effective environment for communication.
During the course of the race, our sail developed a hole which was pretty small to start off with, perhaps 30cm in width and breadth. It remained this size for about 5 minutes during which a dialogue began between the crew about whether it would last the rest of the race or not. The final decision was placed with the owner of the yacht who said it could stay up. Just after the decision was made, the entire sail ripped in half. I was horrified. I later found out that it could be the difference between a R500 fix and R15 000 replacement. Ouch! The team promptly replaced the shredded sail with another and we were on our way again. Bearing in mind that every second wasted could be the hair’s breadth a yacht would need to win the race at the end of the day, immediate and accurate action is always necessary for the duration of the race and the captain is always quick to let you know when you’ve been too slow and, for that matter, when you’ve done well.
I discovered that the captain conveys his urgency by a mixture of the volume of his voice and the amount of swearing thrown in the mix but what amazed me the most was that the tension created in the heat of the moment, was replaced by a wonderful camaraderie once the situation had dissipated. Everybody understood the delivery of communication, and moved a bit borg-like (think Star Trek: First Contact) or even Groupthink from the book 1984 by George Orwell.
Roger and I at the end of the race
Fascinating interactions and I hope to enjoy further sailing experiences where I hopefully get to learn even more.
p.s. Thanks to Roger for the unintended lesson 🙂
The Design Works 